


A Hero's Welcome

by darkphoenix168



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:00:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26453770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkphoenix168/pseuds/darkphoenix168
Summary: Sousuke Yamazaki returns from war to feasts and celebration, none of which he enjoys. The only welcome he wants comes from a handsome young man that he missed more than anyone.
Relationships: Tachibana Makoto/Yamazaki Sousuke
Comments: 2
Kudos: 74





	A Hero's Welcome

**Author's Note:**

> A little Birthday Present to our Whale Shark boy. Happy Birthday Sousuke! It's just a little something something.

Bright lights swung from lanterns and illumined  rich colours, jewels swinging from women’s necks, and light up trays of food and  cups of wine that was being passed around. The Crowned Prince, the host of the fine affair, was speaking with a man standing next to him, the guest of honor. Neither one moved around the party, and the Captain didn’t seem to want to engage with anyone else other than the redhead. His sour expression only got worse when  the prince stood to make the speech that others had been waiting for.

“ Ladies and Gentlemen!  We are here today to celebrate the brave soldiers who fought gallantly for our kingdom, and our country!  To Captain Sousuke Yamazaki, who surged ahead and did all he could to minimize the casualties we suffered. Please, raise your glass, and grant him good health and prosperity!”

“Hail! ”

Sousuke grimaced slightly as he lifted his glass along with the cheering men, really wishing he could just disappear into the crowd, or go home.

“Smile,” the crowned prince leaned over to whisper to his Captain, “everyone’s  gonna think you’re not happy here.”

“I’m not,” Sousuke pointed out.

“Then pretend like the rest of us.’

“Yeah  yeah ,” Sousuke grumbled, “how long do I need to stay at your party?”

“It’s  _ your  _ party,”  the redhead pointed out, cheeky grin on his face, “but I’m sure people will be too drunk to notice within an hour or so, if not already.”

“Rin—”

“Your highness.”

Sighing, Sousuke settled back on his chair , preparing for a long night of talking with people he had no business of knowing. There were fat men who  stepped up to discuss politics and pretty women who came to flirt. Sousuke was as polite as he could be, but found it becoming increasingly difficult throughout the night as people got drunker and drunker.

“Thank you.”

Sousuke nodded curtly to the passing ladies, them giggling and scurrying off to find their friends. Looking around, the young man found his smile fading at the lack of familiar faces surrounding him. He missed the men that fought valiantly for him , and wanted to see all the old faces he’d left behind. Though he supposed they would look out of place in a party like this.

Teal eyes stared wistfully out the window, looking up at the stars and moon, wondering what his comrades in arms were doing now.

The men had returned home with absolute glee. Some practically bolted home, returning to wives, children, and some young enough to see their parents. Sousuke savoured he joy for a moment, before he made himself sit beside the injured and fallen, listening to grief as people came searching for men who would never return home.

Most of the infirmed passed within the week, a few were still clinging to life, but more had begun to return to their own beds, much to their Captain’s pleasure.  Fortunately, most of them had loved ones to attend to them, meaning he didn’t need to be around .

“Rin…”

The prince was evidently having a very good time, and was clearly happy to have his best friend back and in court.

“I’m going home,” Sousuke whispered, Rin turning in surprise.

“No! Stay!” Rin encouraged, clearly more than a little tipsy, “I have a room made up and everything for you!”

“I’d rather just go home—”

“C’mon!” Rin grinned, “I don’t ask that much of you, do I?”

“I… well no—”

“ Ai! Come over and show Sousuke his room!”

The young man eagerly led Sousuke down the long empty halls and towards  a set of double doors. Bowing, Ai left him alone, Sousuke grateful for the silence, and stepped into his room. Sousuke sighed as he shut the door, somewhat hating the lavish room. Everything  in it  looked like it cost enough to feed a family for a month at least. 

There were curtains made of silk and the tiles were intricately laid and practically shined. The balcony in his room looked out to the garden; a secret oasis in the desert. Water poured from fountains and washed over the greenest place in the city. Here he would never have to worry about having a warm meal or a cool drink. And that didn’t sit well with him.

Even the bed was extravagant.

It was covered with what looked like spun gold, clearly too rich for Sousuke to be able to afford. He felt uncomfortable as he flopped down on it, his fingers folded over on his stomach.

He just wanted to go home, to his own bed, and sleep for a week.

A shuffling from the other side of the room made him sit up.

“Who’s there?”

He was not in the mood for a prank or to be interrupted . He’d travelled to far and for too long to be  interrupted by some joker.

“Rin,” Sousuke warned, “if this is some dumb prank—”

“It’s not.”

A well-built young man stepped out of the adjacent room. He was dressed rather casually , in an ivory shirt and  loose pants . His usual robes had been removed and he seemed relaxed in Sousuke’s presence.

“Makoto….”

The young man broke into a smile at Sousuke’s recognition. Even Sousuke couldn’t help himself; he all but ran towards him, bringing Makoto into his tight embrace.  Sousuke lowered his nose to Makoto’s hair, breathing deep.

The young man never smelt so good.

“I missed you,” Sousuke whispered, “so much it hurt.”

“I could’ve been there with you,” Makoto pointed out, “but  my recruitment form was never submitted …”

“I saw a lot of good men die,” Sousuke commented, “I wasn’t going to count you among them.”

“It got you on Haru’s good side at least,” Makoto teased , “still…”

“I kind of owe him one, seeing as he’s taken care of Rin pretty well.”

Makoto laughed, pulling away for a moment to look into Sousuke’s eyes.

“I missed you…”

They were the most beautiful words Sousuke wanted to hear.

“I missed you too…”

There meeting had been something of an accident. Sousuke had caught Haru sneaking away from Rin’s room and was chastising him for being so careless when Makoto appeared to  bring the traveling salesman to his house. It was then Sousuke started again, yelling at Haru for playing with Rin’s feelings and being a two-timer. Makoto  emphatically denied this, informing Sousuke that Haru was his childhood friend, and that Haru would come and stay with him when he was in town. All of which was confirmed when Rin stepped out to investigate the commotion.

Embarrassed, Sousuke forced himself down to Makoto’s farm to apologize . While Haru was cold, Makoto was not . He even greeted Sousuke with a cup of tea and sat him down to talk. Sousuke started making weekly visits to Makoto’s, and started looking for him whenever he came to the palace to drop off crops  or supplies. Their relationship turned physical  when Makoto made the first move , kissing Sousuke in the dead of night when he left after one of Rin’s parties. Sousuke reacted by pulling Makoto into a cramped closet, the two barely getting out of their clothes before they were interrupted by a servant looking for her  mop.

Since then they’d barely been able to keep their hands off of one another.  When it was announced that the country was going to war, and it would be Sousuke that would be leading the charge , both Makoto suddenly became very  solemn. Their last night together Makoto finally broke down and begged him not to leave. It hurt Sousuke to ride out with the troops that morning, and he couldn’t even bring himself to look back at his lover.  A part of him knew if he did he’d never have left.

“Thought you’d be at the party,” Sousuke said, refusing to let Makoto go.

“I don’t have anything nice to wear,” Makoto laughed, “and I knew you’d want to be out sooner rather than later.”

Makoto’s hands ran up  Sousuke’s chest, slipping into the folds of the young man’s shirt and running his palms over the warm skin.

“You got bigger,” Makoto said,  looking over the young man’s exposed biceps and forearms.

“Not by much,” Sousuke shrugged, “ I’m still the same person .”

“Good.”

Sousuke missed Makoto’s kisses. He  welcomed the other’s touch , his mouth opening  for Makoto to slip his tongue in. Makoto hummed at the contact he’d missed for months, his hands wrapping around Sousuke’s neck and chin, while Sousuke slipped his hands around the young man’s waist.

“Being forceful, huh?” Sousuke smiled, enjoying Makoto’s  eagerness.

“It’s been months,” Makoto whispered, pushing Sousuke towards the bed, “ I don’t want to wait any longer.”

“Neither do I.”

Sousuke fell back onto the bed,  smiling up at Makoto who was pulling off his shirt before crawling over hi m to resume their antics. Makoto’s hands cupped Sousuke’s cheeks, angling the Captain’s face to allow him to  reach deeper. Sousuke let Makoto take the lead, falling back on the bed and holding Makoto’s hips  firmly on his waist. Makoto started to kiss elsewhere, travelling down Sousuke’s chin, neck, and starting to pull down Sousuke’s shirt  to leave marks on Sousuke’s collarbone.

“Makoto.”

His shirt moving made Sousuke realize something rather  uncomfortable . He tried to sit up, but Makoto wouldn’t be deterred. 

“Makoto—”

“What’s wrong?” Makoto teased, “usually you’re so keep to strip down—”

The mood vanished as Makoto managed to get Sousuke’s shirt off and exposed the injury that made Sousuke the war hero he didn’t want to be.

It was hideous, and the reason Sousuke hated taking his shirt off.

“Sousuke…”

A  long scar went down from Sousuke’s right shoulder to cleave his right pectoral. The re was a dent where the wound started and the scar was still red and raw. The skin pulled into the wound and when Sousuke drew breath it  only made it look worse.

“What… what—”

“One of them got lucky,” Sousuke told Makoto,  shame on his face as he turned away from  Makoto.

Sousuke had kept the extent of his injury a secret from everyone , even Rin. Rin knew he’d been hurt but didn’t know how horrific the wound had scared. 

“Sousuke…”

It was them Sousuke looked up to see Makoto starting to cry.

“Makoto!”

“Why-why didn’t you tell us!” Makoto hiccoughed , “y-you were hurt a-and—"

“Because I knew you’d just worry about me,” a thumb ran over Makoto’s tears, “and I knew Rin would cry too.”

“Sousuke—”

“The medic cleared me a week ago,” Sousuke tried to reassure Makoto, “he said I’m not in any danger anymore, so long as I keep it clean.”

Makoto just sat back, his eyes locked on the wound and an unreadable expression on his face.

“I… I should go…”

“Makoto?”

Makoto got off Sousuke and grabbed his shirt. He re-wrapped himself quickly and made his way to the door, ignoring Sousuke’s protests.

“This was a mistake…”

“What!?” Sousuke got up to chase Makoto .

“I have to go—”

“ No you don’t! Makoto—”

“Please,” Makoto’s hand was on the door, “ just let me —"

“Makoto!”

A hand slammed the door shut, Sousuke now coming to stand in front of Makoto.

“Makoto,” Sousuke tried again, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you—”

“It’s not about that…”

Sousuke deliberately stood in front of the young man,  wishing he would raise his head and look him in the eye.

“I… you shouldn’t be with someone like me,” Makoto whispered, “you’re a war hero now, a wounded one,” his eyes settled on the right shoulder, “even if you can ’t fight you can advise and-and train—”

“Makoto—”

“I’ll only ruin your reputation.”

“Then go ahead and ruin it. ”

“Sousuke!”

“I don’t care,” Sousuke’s hands were around Makoto’s cheeks, “as long as I have you, I don’t care.”

“You should!” Makoto stepped back, “they’ll  condemn you! You’ll never be able to  _ see _ Rin let alone protect him!”

Sousuke paused . Makoto was right; as decorated as he was, a  scandal like this would  make him an outcast, if they didn’t outright execute him.

“I won’t ask you to  choose between the two of us,” Makoto whispered, “I can’t.”

“Then don’t make the decision for me.”

Sousuke’s hand  pulled Makoto’s face to his, the Captain begging Makoto to hear him out.

“You’re right, I can’t  choose between you and Rin,” Sousuke told him, “just like you can’t  choose between me and  Haruka .”

“That’s why—”

“Rin is my closest and oldest friend, but  _ you  _ are the man I love,” Sousuke was earnest now, “I couldn’t stand losing either of you.”

“And if you stay with me you might lose Rin!”

“But if you leave me I  _ will  _ lose you!”

Sousuke took Makoto’s hand, and pulled him back to the bed. Taking a seat on the edge of the bed,  the Captain kept Makoto’s fingers in his.

“Please don’t leave me…”

“You need to get married, have children,” Makoto swallowed,  coming to sit next to Sousuke,  “I can’t—”

“Why do I need to get married? Because I’m a soldier?” Sousuke asked, “and if it’s children, there are hundreds of wartime orphans that need homes —”

“That’s not the point—”

“Then what is it ! ? ” Sousuke yelled, “all I know is that you want to leave me and that scares me more than anything!”

He took a deep breath , calming himself down and resting his head on Makoto’s shoulder.

“When I was on that field, the only thing that kept me from dying was knowing how sad you’d be if I did,” Sousuke  said quietly , “I couldn’t do that to you , not after all you’ve done for me .”

Makoto bit his lip at this, hating how tightly his stomach was twisting.

“I don’t want you to leave me,” Sousuke whispered, “I want to grow old waking up next to you, I want you to tell me how stupid I’m being every night,” his eyes finally met Makoto’s, “and I want to die knowing I made someone like you happy.”

“I can’t marry you,” Makoto whispered, “ I can’t have your kids or-or bring you any sense of status…” his fingers ran over Sousuke’s thigh, “if we’re caught… you’ll be an outcast…”

“They can execute me for all I care,” a hand ran over Makoto’s  soft strands,  “I just want to be with you.”

“Don’t say that…”

“It’s the truth.”

“I’m sorry,” Makoto whispered, tears falling anew, “I just… I just wanted you  to be happy…”

“With you I am…” Sousuke held him tighter, “you make me happy.”

“They’d all hate you if they knew…”

“ They’d hate me if they knew what I really thought of them,” Sousuke pointed out , pulling Makoto down onto the bed  with his arms still around Makoto .

The two stayed like that for a moment, Makoto revelling in their close contact. The months Sousuke had spent at war were some of the most anxiety-filled he’d ever spent. The only other p erson who probably got less sleep than  him was probably Rin. When word reached them  that Sousuke had gotten injured he had to suffer in silence and be a shoulder for Rin. It was a relief when Sousuke wrote to them and  informed him that he was well, but he never expected the wound to be as bad as it was. 

“Sousuke…”

Makoto felt the  arms around him tighten . He wasn’t entirely opposed to how closely Sousuke was hold him; despite his protesting, Makoto  would be devastated if he had to watch Sousuke marry another and father children.

Sousuke rolled over to hover over Makoto, his hands coming on either side of the young man’s head.

“ I love you, Makoto,” Sousuke whispered, coming to kiss Makoto again, “ you were the only thing I kept thinking about on those cold, lonely nights.”

The green eyes searched  the bright teal. When he first saw Sousuke’s face he noticed he seemed older. Now he saw it clearly; the few months he’d been at war had taken it’s toll on Sousuke’s mind , and it was obvious all the young man wanted was home. And Makoto was his home.

“I love you too, Sousuke…”

Makoto lifted his body to meet Sousuke’s lips,  kissing him slowly. The green eyes betrayed him, and he turned to look at the scar on Sousuke’s  collarbone.

“Don’t force yourself,” Sousuke whispered, his hand coming to cup his cheek, “ hang on, I’ll get something —”

Makoto’s hand gently cradled Sousuke’s shoulder and he shakily brought his lips down to press tenderly on the scar.

“It’s a part of you,” Makoto whispered ,  “does it hurt?”

“I… yes,” Sousuke whispered. He’d already hidden so much,  and Makoto  didn’t deserve more lies. “ You don’t hurt it though,” he  pulled Makoto’s lips to his, “ I’ll tell you if it does.”

Any protests Makoto might’ve  had  were smothered by Sousuke’s tongue. His words turned to moans, Sousuke’s skill hardly dulling in their months apart.

“My men snuck off to brothels or had  mementos from their wives,” Sousuke whispered, “I only had memories of you,” he returned Makoto’s shirt to  the floor , “and they don’t serve you justice.”

Makoto blushed at the praise, the smile curling on his lips an unmovable one.

“Here too?”

Sousuke wondered when Makoto got so cheeky. The man slowly shuffled out of his pants,  his body revealed inch by inch, hips to thighs and everything in between.

“Oh yes,” Sousuke whispered, his fingers wrapping around Makoto’s hardening member, “here too.”

“ Ummph …” Makoto hummed, leaning back and  opening his legs a little wider for Sousuke, “ _ hahh _ _ … _ ”

It was different for the both of them. Unsurprisingly, Sousuke’s right arm wasn’t working how it used too, so his left was doing most of the work. Given how Makoto was reacting, he didn’t seem to mind it too much. His hips bucked and twitched, and Makoto whimpered; months of loneliness and memories  did not prepare him for the real thing , and he didn’t want the night to end.

Sousuke’s fingers rolled and kneaded Makoto, the legs around him tightening and flexing. On occasion Makoto’s toes gripped the sheets and harshly tugged in response to all the touching.

“I want you,” Sousuke whispered, leaning over and pressing his lips to Makoto’s ears, “I don’t want to wait anymore…”

“ _ Nmf _ _ … g-go ahead _ ,” Makoto panted,  bringing his shaking fingers down to guide Sousuke’s other hand to his entrance, “ _ i _ _ … it’s  _ _ all ready _ _ … for you _ …”

“I would have loved to see that,” Sousuke teased,  managing to slip his other fingers inside Makoto.

“ _ N… Next  _ _ ti _ _ -ah-me… _ ”

Sousuke ignored the  mild pain and pressed on, enjoying the sight of Makoto’s muscular body tensing and twitching under the mercy of Sousuke’s fingers.

“Sousuke!” Makoto cried, “please… j-just…  i -in me…”

“I’ve barely started,” Sousuke said .

“ _ Too long _ ,” Makoto whined, “ _ it’s been too long… _ ”

“You’re right about that…” Sousuke was gentle as he lifted Makoto’s thighs  up and pulled them around his hips.

“No!”

Surprised, Makoto sat up, gently pushing Sousuke down onto the bed.

“It’ll hurt you,” Makoto panted, straddling Sousuke’s body, “let me…”

“Are you giving me a show?” Sousuke teased, Makoto  blushing in response.

“I want too,” the young man leaned down and gave Sousuke a kiss.

Sousuke let Makoto take the lead. His own fingers  guided Sousuke into him, hissing at both the pleasure and the pain it brought. 

It was what he missed more than anything.

His own fingers and thoughts weren’t comparable to Sousuke.  The soldier wasn’t the only one suffering from loneliness.

“You’re tighter,” Sousuke breathed out, “feels  _ so  _ good…”

“ Missed you,” Makoto squeaked out, “ _ Oohh _ _ … _ ”

“That’s my line,” the soldier hovered over Makoto,  “take your time… I can wait a little longer…”

The young man managed to  bleat out a breathy laugh. Cheeky green  eyes looked  down at Sousuke, his lower lip in his teeth.

“Can you?”

Sousuke huffed , shaking his head slowly .

“No.”

Makoto screamed as Sousuke’s hips suddenly snapped  up . His whole body tensed and he gripped the be d’s headboard . Sousuke’s hands were around Makoto’s hips, pulling out again and shoving himself roughly in. 

“ _ Ah- _ _ haa _ _! S-Sousuke!  _ _ Ahh _ _...!  _ _ Ugn _ _! _ ”

Sousuke couldn’t resist. He lifted his body to run his tongue over Makoto’s chest. The young man leaned back  as he felt the rough muscle run over his skin. He moaned openly, and threaded his fingers through the short black hair.

“ _ S…  _ _ Sou _ _ … _ ”

“I haven’t tasted you yet,” Sousuke said, his teeth scraping over  the smooth skin, “it’s been too long… and this isn’t enough…”

“ _ Won’t leave, _ ” Makoto gasped, “ _ I won’t leave you… _ ”

“Good boy…”

Makoto whined and whimpered as he bounced up and down on Sousuke , his hands now around the young soldier’s back. Blunt nails dug into Sousuke’s back and he cried into the open air. 

“ _ S-Sousuke! Sousuke! _ ”

The dreams Sousuke had in those lonely nights  didn’t sound half as good as Makoto did right now. His body was tightening around Sousuke, and he still remembered how to move to make Sousuke moan.  Sousuke was hitting all of his good spots, and Makoto was making that well known.

“I’ll never leave you again,” Sousuke promised , hugging Makoto tightly, kissing and leaving dark hickeys on Makoto’s chest.

“ _ No… No…”  _ Makoto gasped, “ _ live… for you _ …”

“Tried that,” Sousuke panted, “I want to live  for _ you _ .”

Makoto whimpered,  his hips shuddering and tensing.

“ _ Here… for you _ ,” Makoto tried to swallow and come back to his senses, “ _ I… I… AH! _ ”

Sousuke was sudden. He found a way to angle himself to the place where Makoto was desperate to reach . Suddenly he was moving faster, sweat beating on his chest and tears rolling down his cheeks.

“ _ A-Ah-Again! Again!” _ Makoto begged,  Sousuke quickly obliging and finding the spot over and over again. “ _ Ye-Yes! Yes! _ ” his fingers tightened on Sousuke’s back, “ _ m-more! More!” _

The Captain bit down on Makoto’s neck, hard enough to leave marks as deep as the ones on his back.

“ _ AH! HAH!” _

Makoto yanked on the black hair ,  a silent sign that he wanted more. Sousuke complied, continuing to bite down and leaving more and more  bite marks on the usually pristine skin , Makoto’s moaning egging him on. 

“ _ I love you _ ,” Makoto whimpered, “ _ I love  _ _ you, _ _ I love you, I— _ ”

Sousuke felt Makoto’s body tense tighter around his, making him release inside of Makoto, and Makoto, in turn, covered his abdomen.

“I’m sorry,” Makoto panted, realizing what he’d done, “Sousuke…”

“Don’t you dare,” Sousuke whispered , lips to Makoto’s temples, “I want more…”

Sousuke held the panting body close to his chest, whispering sweet words into the panting body.

“Makoto…”

“Don’t leave me,” Makoto whispered, “please…”

“I will fight to keep you safe,” Sousuke whispered, holding the exhausted body close, “until my last breath ,” he held Makoto tighter, “w hat made you think you needed to leave me?”

Makoto straightened up, looking at Sousuke in the eye.

“When  the war dragged on for too  long I started thinking about how you weren’t going to leave behind any children,  and I wondered how much I’ve held you back…” Makoto looked back to Sousuke, “I didn’t want to be the reason you weren’t where you should be.”

“I  _ am  _ where I should be ,”  Sousuke’s hand reached up to cup Makoto’s cheek, “the reason I’m not some big political advisor isn’t because of you, it’s because I don’t want to do it.”

“Why not?” Makoto asked, “you’d be safer, closer to Rin’s side—”

“I hate politics,” Sousuke grumbled, “all that posturing and entitlement… no,” he shook his head, “I belong down in the mud, with all the soldiers that willingly follow me.”

“It’s not mud that got us messy,” Makoto teased, looking down at the two of them, “but I  kept thinking ...

“ Stop that,” Sousuke teased, lying Makoto on his back, “ it’s not good for you…”

“But you were all I thought about,” soft emerald eyes looked up to Sousuke, “ and if I only have tonight…”

“Who says?” Sousuke asked, kissing the bite marks .

“ Your work. Y ou’ll be so busy,” Makoto said, “ you’re going to  be here with Rin…”

“This is a ll a little much for me,” Sousuke chuckled, “ I’m worried I might be allergic to all this luxury…”

“Too bad,” Makoto laughed, “Rin was telling me he might give you a  permanent room here.”

“ Oh?” Sousuke rolled over to look at Makoto, “would it come with you?”

“I’m not a  permanent fi xture,” the green eyes looked Sousuke up and down, “but I would visit.”

“How often?” 

Fingers trailed the curve of Makoto’s spine.

“ Dunno ,” Makoto admitted.

“How about every night?”

“Too much!” again Makoto laughed .

“Too bad,” Sousuke smiled, “it would be very nice.”

Makoto hummed, his head  leaning back on the mattress. 

“What if I worked here too?”

Sousuke looked down at the young man, his head tilting .

“Rin’s offered me a position here,” Makoto said, “managing  resources … I’ll be working with Rei…”

“Are you going to accept?”

“I don’t know,” the young man admitted, “ it would be nice… but different… I’ve worked on a farm my whole life,” he looked up to Sousuke, “but I’d be here… maybe with you…”

“ Well… how about this,” Sousuke mused, “you work here and start to live in a really nice room like this, with me,” he smiled down at Makoto, “and… I’ll accept a position here.”

“Sousuke—”

“Is it really so wrong for me to want to be close to you too ?”

“You should  do things that you want to do,” Makoto whispered, “that would make me happiest.”

“Then it’s settled; you and I will live together here, and I’ll take a position here with you .”

“Sousuke!”

“Making you happy is what I want to do,” Sousuke said, “consequences be damned.”

Makoto huffed slightly, but he kept close to  his wounded war hero.

“Besides… it won’t be  something in politics,” his head tilted, “Rin wants me as his Captain of the Guards.”

“So you’ll still be in danger,” Makoto whispered, loud enough for Sousuke to hear him.

“ No I won’t,” he smiled at the confused face Makoto gave him, “you’ll protect me.”

“I’m a  farm boy ! There’s only  so much I can do!”

“That’s more than enough,” Sousuke  sat up, looking down at a tired young man, “but for now,  let me enjoy my welcome back party.”

“Should I have borrowed a concubine’s outfit?” Makoto teased, making Sousuke sit up.

“If we’re going to be living here together, I think I can arrange that.”

“Sousuke!?”

“I had months and months of naughty dreams,” Sousuke whispered, leaning close to Makoto, “ be careful what you tempt me.”

“ If I’m not going to leave you… it sounds like we’ll have time,” Makoto teased, laughing as he kissed Sousuke .

Sousuke  smiled for the first time in months. All the stress and loss and pain he’d suffered could be forgotten in the moment thanks to Makoto . The party downstairs went well into the night, and so did the two  of them. Sousuke didn’t need any other welcome, and he didn’t need any of the finery Rin was willing to shower him with; he just needed Makoto to tell him that he loved him, over and over again. His wound didn’t matter, his scars didn’t matter . Everyone else could think what they wanted about him;  he only wanted to  by Makoto’s hero.


End file.
